President Barack Obama paused to speak with members of St. George Malankara Orthodox Church of Staten Island in New Dorp Beach during his visit to the storm-ravaged community. From left with the president are Martin Sunny, Konniyoor Sunny, Oommen Skaria, a founding member of the church, and vicar/pastor, the Rev. Alex K. Joy.Maureen Donnelly

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y., - President Barack Obama’s visit to Staten Island brought attention and likely attracted donations to a web site fund-raiser for the Hurricane Sandy-ravaged St. George Malankara Orthodox Church of Staten Island in New Dorp Beach.

The president posed for photos and spoke with the Rev. Alex K. Joy, the vicar, Martin Sunny and other members in front of the church building, which is over 90 years old. Preliminary estimates indicate it will cost $125,000 to $175,000 to repair damages.

“President Obama is genuinely one of the nicest guys I have ever met,” Sunny said.

“Being a person that voted for him in both terms and considering elections were only a few weeks ago made the meeting even more memorable,” Sunny went on.

“The amount of security present between the NYPD, Secret Service, and FBI only heightened our expectations, which is why I was so surprised we had a chance to talk to him — let alone take a picture,” he continued. “We as a family at the church are happy the president took time to come out and see the devastation in Staten Island and talk to the affected people and not just fly over.”

Sunny appealed for financial help on the crowd funding site, GoFundMe.com/StatenIsland and, so far, his efforts have resulted in over $6,000 in donations for the cause.

“The power of social media is an unbelievable one and I’m glad we are putting it to good use,” Sunny said, noting that the church is able to reach many potential donors via the web.

“We have a few more weeks left until Christmas and are confident we can raise more money for our church and our community that was affected by this tragedy,” he said.

GoFundMe was chosen among various fund-raising sites because it was easy for potential donors to use, Sunny said. 

ABOUT THE CHURCH

St. George has a congregation of about 90 families — roughly 450 people — who trace their faith back to when one of the 12 Apostles, St. Thomas, visited India in the year 52. The Orthodox parish bought the church 36 years ago. The building, believed to have been built in 1920, previously housed a Moravian congregation.

Worldwide, the faith has over 2 million members in 24 dioceses that use the West Syrian liturgy and follow the faith of the church as established by the three Ecumenical Councils of Nicea in the year 325, Constantinople in the year 381 and Ephesus in the year 431.

The faith is in communion with the other Oriental Orthodox Churches, including Antiochene, Alexandrian, Armenian, Eritrean and Ethiopian Churches and has good ecumenical relationships with the Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Protestant churches, according to the official web site of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, Malankaraorthodoxchurch.in.

The New Dorp Beach congregation is negotiating with several contractors to completely redo the basement, kitchen, bathrooms and all electrical, heating and air conditioning components. Carpeting, flooring, windows and doors need to be replaced.

St. George Malankara Orthodox Church is located at 75 Cedar Grove Avenue. For information, call 718-351-5585 or e-mail stgeorgechurchsi@verizon.net.